Full Text of SR0320 96th General Assembly
SR0320 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 |
| learn of the death of Dr. Akihiko "Aki" Yokosawa of Naperville, | 4 |
| who passed away on May 25, 2009; and
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| WHEREAS, He was born in Kofu, Japan, into a centuries-old | 6 |
| prominent samurai family, and grew up in Sendai, where he | 7 |
| graduated from Tohoku University; in his youth, he earned a 2nd | 8 |
| degree black belt in traditional jukendo, a rare and | 9 |
| challenging martial art that combines judo with sword fighting; | 10 |
| and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, He later earned his doctorate in physics at Ohio | 12 |
| State University and became a member of Sigma Xi, an elite | 13 |
| scientific research society that honors excellence in | 14 |
| scientific investigation; and | 15 |
| WHEREAS, In 1954, Dr. Yokosawa joined the teaching staff at | 16 |
| Illinois State University in Normal, where he became the | 17 |
| youngest professor of physics at age 27; there he met his wife | 18 |
| of 51 years, Sirkka, who was studying English as a Fulbright | 19 |
| scholar from Finland; the couple married in Copenhagen in 1957; | 20 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, He went on to work as a high-energy nuclear |
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| physicist at Argonne National Laboratory from 1959 until | 2 |
| retiring in 2001; while at Argonne, Dr. Yokosawa advanced | 3 |
| research into the existence of a diproton, described as "a | 4 |
| six-quark object", and traveled extensively, conducting | 5 |
| experiments to that end; and
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| WHEREAS, In the 1990s, he headed a project that brought | 7 |
| scientists from around the world to Brookhaven National | 8 |
| Laboratory in New York to study measurements of polarized | 9 |
| beams; and
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| WHEREAS, Dr. Yokosawa was an avid tennis player and enjoyed | 11 |
| attending sporting events with his family; and
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| WHEREAS, Dr. Akihiko "Aki" Yokosawa is survived by his | 13 |
| wife, Sirkka; his sons, Martin and Kenneth; his daughter, Tina | 14 |
| Buhelos; his sister, Midori Tashiro; and his seven | 15 |
| grandchildren; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL | 17 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 18 |
| his family and friends, the passing of Dr. Akihiko Yokosawa; | 19 |
| and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 21 |
| presented to the family of Dr. Akihiko Yokosawa as a symbol of |
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| our sincere sympathy.
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